


Family Portrait

by Emospritelet



Series: Sprite's Festive Fic Fest [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Baking, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21650536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emospritelet/pseuds/Emospritelet
Summary: Gold and Lacey have been married for a year, and their daughter is almost two. Lacey bakes cookies for Christmas, and they're ready just as Emma, Neal and Henry arrive. Family fluff.
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Lacey/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Series: Sprite's Festive Fic Fest [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560835
Comments: 16
Kudos: 58





	Family Portrait

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Waiting Game](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9920936) by [Emospritelet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emospritelet/pseuds/Emospritelet). 

> Anonymous prompted: 
> 
> 4: “You should have seen the toy store, it was a bloodbath”
> 
> 48: “Family picture! Come on, no exceptions!”

Lacey Gold swore under her breath, sticking a burned thumb in her mouth and sucking it instinctively before darting to the sink and running cold water over it. Heat was streaming out into the kitchen where she had left the oven door open, and she bounced on her toes impatiently as she waited, thumb held in the cold stream. The windows had steamed up, a thin layer of perspiration threatening to bead on her brow, and she wished she had taken Gold up on his first suggestion and spent the holidays in a hotel in Boston. At least there she wouldn’t have had the bright idea to make Christmas cookies.

She had never tried baking before, and she wasn’t sure what had come over her, other than being seduced by the idea of a ‘proper’ family Christmas. Emma and Neal were due to arrive soon to spend the holidays, and while she was looking forward to seeing them, planning things had been an unwelcome source of stress. Tilly was approaching her second birthday, and was both stubborn and very mobile, so Lacey spent most of her time trying to keep her out of mischief. It left her exhausted at the end of each day, and so Gold always cooked dinner when he returned each night from his legal practice. He would be making Christmas dinner too, and she wanted to feel that she had at least made some contribution to the festive feast. However misshapen the cookies might look.

“Hot.”

Lacey glanced around, to where Tilly was standing in the doorway, and yelped in alarm, racing back to the oven and kicking the door shut.

“Yes, baby, it’s hot. You know not to touch it, right?”

“Hot. Ow!” Tilly shook her hand to demonstrate, just as Lacey had done a few minutes earlier.

“Good girl.”

Muttering to herself under her breath about what a terrible mother she was, Lacey turned off the water and inspected her thumb. A shiny red stripe of a burn marred her pale skin, but at least it didn’t hurt. Perhaps it would be okay.

“Cookie!” said Tilly happily.

“Yeah, Mummy made cookies,” Lacey agreed. “They’re still hot, though. No eating.”

“Poo.”

“How many times did I tell you not to say that?”

“Poo!”

Lacey sighed, wiping a stray hair back from her face as she heard a noise from the front door.

“Go see if that’s Daddy, okay?”

“Daddy home!”

Tilly toddled off excitedly, dark curls bouncing, and Lacey put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the kitchen. White patches of flour and powdered sugar covered the kitchen counters, and she was pretty sure she had some in her hair. The latest batch of cookies was cooling on wire racks, a few of them broken and scattered on the counter when she had burned her thumb and dropped the tray. She gathered them up as best she could, spreading them on the racks.

“Look out, here’s trouble!”

Lacey grinned as she heard Neal’s voice, followed by Tilly’s delighted squeal. She whipped off the apron she had been wearing, wiping her hands on it before dropping it on the counter, and hurried through to the hallway. Neal had scooped Tilly up and was blowing a raspberry on her cheek, making her giggle helplessly. Snow coated his hair and the tops of his shoulders, and dusted the woollen beanie that Emma was wearing. Emma stamped snow from her boots, grinning at Lacey from behind Neal.

“Hey,” she said. “I know we’re early. Wanted to avoid the worst of the traffic.”

“It’s cool,” said Lacey. “I thought it was Rufus.”

“Oh, we ran into him as we were heading through town,” said Neal, tucking Tilly into the crook of his arm. “He’s just putting the car in the garage.”

“The bug’s full of presents, by the way,” added Emma. “We thought we’d better leave them in there until a certain person goes to bed.”

“Good idea.” Lacey leaned in to hug her, and then Neal. “You guys want a drink? Tea? Cocoa? Maybe something stronger?”

Neal groaned, letting his head roll back.

“God, something stronger sounds _great_,” he said. “We did the last of the shopping this morning. You should have seen the toy store, it was a _bloodbath_.”

“Go on through to the lounge,” said Lacey. “I’ll open a bottle of wine.”

The door opened just behind Emma, making her start, and Gold ducked into the house, grinning broadly as he saw his entire family crammed into the hallway. Snowflakes were clinging to the short strands of his greying hair, and his dark eyes found Lacey’s, a soft, contented expression in them that, after almost a year of marriage, still made her stomach twist in pleasure.

“Hey,” he said. “Can I smell cinnamon?”

“Hey yourself,” she said. “I made cookies. Hoping they taste better than they look.”

“I’m sure they’ll be delicious.” He bent to kiss her. “I heard something about wine?”

“Daddy!” Tilly was holding out her arms, and Gold grinned, reaching for her and taking her from Neal.

“How’s my best girl today?” he asked. “Have you been good? Is Santa gonna come and visit?”

“Yeah!”

He kissed her cheek, carrying her through to the lounge after Emma and Neal, and Lacey grinned happily, going through to the kitchen to take a bottle of wine from the rack and open it up. She left the oven on, hunting in the well-stocked fridge for the dish of macaroni cheese that Gold had already prepared and covered in foil, ready to cook.

“You need a hand?”

His voice made her grin, and she straightened up, looking over her shoulder.

“I think I have everything under control.”

“So I see,” he remarked, eyeing the kitchen, and Lacey swatted his arm.

“Okay, so I got a little messed up. This is what happens when I try to cook, you should know that.”

Gold grinned, sliding a hand around her waist and pulling her close.

“I know I’m looking forward to tasting your sweet delights.”

His grin was wicked, his voice a low murmur, and Lacey bit her lip.

“Oh yeah?”

“Oh yes, Mrs Gold,” he growled.

She giggled, rising up on her toes to kiss him. His mouth was warm and soft, his tongue sliding against hers as his grip tightened.

“Guys.” Neal put his head around the kitchen door, and sighed as they broke the kiss to look around.

“God, is there _ever_ gonna be a time when I don’t catch you two sucking face?” he complained. “Tilly and Emma are waiting in the lounge and I finally worked out the timer thing on my phone. Family picture! Come on, no exceptions!”

He disappeared again, and Gold turned back to Lacey with a wide smile. She twined her arms around his neck, a feeling of comfortable happiness spreading through her.

“Our peace is shattered,” he said.

“Have we had _any_ peace in the past two years?”

“I guess not,” he admitted. “It’s been - well, it’s been pretty full-on, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, and you love it,” she said, and his grin became almost smug.

“Oh, I’m the luckiest bastard in the world,” he said. “Merry Christmas, my love.”

He kissed her again, and Lacey let herself melt into him. Merry Christmas indeed.


End file.
